• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.209-219
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• 2003

An experiment was initiated to evaluate hybrid vigour in twelve F$_1$ hybrids and seven three-way crosses of multivoltine ${\times}$ bivoltine silkworm between newly evolved multivoltine breed BL67 with productive bivoltine CSR breeds and hybrids. Analysis of variances computed for different characters among F$_1$hybrids and three-way crosses showed highly significant differences among them indicating presence of both additive and non-additive gene actions for the expression of these characters. Among twelve F$_1$ hybrids, two F$_1$ hybrids viz., BL67${\times}$CSR$_4$and BL67${\times}$CSR$_{5}$ have expressed significant heterosis for nine characters and two hybrids viz., BL67${\times}$NB$_4$D$_2$and PM${\times}$NB$_4$D$_2$ for eight characters whereas out of nine three-way crosses, three hybrids viz., BL67${\times}$ (CSR$_3$${\times}$CSR$_{6}$), BL67${\times}$(CSR$_{16}$${\times}$CRS$_{17}$) and BL67${\times}$(CSR$_{18}$ ${\times}$CSR$_{19}$) expressed significant heterosis for eight characters. In the present study, it is observed that the cocoons of two hybrids viz., BL67${\times}$CSR$_4$and BL67${\times}$CSR$_{19}$ were found to be uniform as these hybrids showed lowest CV％ (5.35 and 5.38) among twelve F$_1$ hybrids and seven three way crosses between multivoltine ${\times}$ bivoltine hybrids. Four F$_1$ hybrids viz., BL67${\times}$CSR$_4$, BL67${\times}$CSR$_{5}$, BL67${\times}$ (CSR$_3$${\times}$CSR$_{6}$), BL67${\times}$(CSR$_{16}$${\times}$CRS$_{17}$) and BL67${\times}$(CSR$_{18}$ ${\times}$CSR$_{19}$) showed superiority in expressing hybrid vigour and are considered as best heterotic hybrids for commercial exploitation.ion.ation.ion.ation.ion.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.240-245
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• 2010

The effects of controlled energy restriction and duration of pre-incubation egg holding on fertility, hatchability and hatch losses were evaluated in aged broiler breeders (64 wk). The energy (ME) required for maintenance, activity, growth and anticipated egg production was calculated and offered to a control group (283-471 kcal/kg) from 21-64 weeks of age. In three other groups, ME was quantitatively reduced either by 20% (SER; severe energy restriction) or 10% (MER; moderate energy restriction) and increased by10% (EEF; excess energy feeding) over the control group (CER; controlled energy restriction). Each diet was offered to 130 pullets in individual cages, and the quantity of ME increased with age. At the end of 64 weeks, fertile eggs were collected from each dietary group for 11 consecutive days and grouped under 4 holding periods based on the length of storage (2, 5, 8 or 11 d). The influence of energy regimes, egg holding intervals and their interaction was evaluated on fertility, hatch losses and hatchability. Broiler breeders maintained on SER regime (231-419 kcal/d) produced maximum number of eggs (993) followed by MER (819), CER (624) and EEF (438) during the 11-day period. The percent fertility and hatchability was significantly (p$\leq$0.05) higher in SER and MER groups compared to CER and EEF. However, energy regimes did not influence the loss in egg weight during pre-incubation storage, shell weight, shell thickness or hatch losses as dead germs and dead in shell. The improvement in hatchability in SER and MER groups appeared to be closely related to higher fertility and lower embryonic mortality. Holding of eggs for 11 days showed a linear loss in egg weight with the length of storage, but did not influence the fertility and hatch losses. The percent hatchability on eggs set was maximum when storage period was restricted to 5 days. The interaction between energy regimes and egg holding periods exhibited better hatchability results with SER regime when eggs were held for 5 days. Response to MER was not different from SER. It was obvious that energy restriction during production period had a positive influence on egg number, fertility and hatchability in aged breeders. At 64 weeks of age, holding of fertile eggs for 5 days prior to incubation was adequate for optimum hatchability in breeders.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.1171-1175
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• 2005

An experiment was conducted (28 to 44 weeks) to study the laying performance, shell quality, and nutrient retention of White Leghorn layers fed different levels of non-phytate phosphorus (NPP). Six levels of NPP (0.15, 0.18, 0.21, 0.24, 0.27 and 0.30%) at a constant calcium (Ca) level (3.5%) in maize-soya-deoiled rice bran based diets were formulated, and each experimental diet was offered ad libitum for 16 weeks to five replicates with five birds in each replicate. The body weight of WL layers fed diet containing 0.15% NPP was significantly (p<0.05) lower than those fed diet with 0.30% NPP, at 44 weeks of age. However, the hen day egg production, egg weight, daily feed intake and feed consumed per dozen eggs were not influenced by the variation in the NPP levels in the diet. The bone ash content was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the birds fed 0.30% NPP as compared with those fed diets up to 0.24% NPP. Bone ash content was intermediate in the birds fed diet containing 0.27% NPP. The tibia strength followed the same trend as that of bone ash. Dietary NPP content had no influence on serum Ca and protein concentration and activity of alkaline phosphatase. However, serum inorganic P concentration increased linearly with NPP content in the diet. The concentration of P was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the birds fed 0.27% NPP or higher as compared with those fed 0.15% NPP. Levels of dietary NPP had no influence on egg quality parameters like shell wt, shell thickness, shell strength and specific gravity. The retention of nutrients such as DM, N and Ca were comparable among the WL layers fed different levels of NPP. However, the retention of P decreased linearly with increase in the level of NPP in the diet. The retention of P in the birds fed diets up to 0.24% NPP in the diet was comparable, however further increasing the content of NPP (either 0.27% or 0.30%) reduced the retention of P. Based on the results of the present study, 0.15% NPP (180 mg/b/d) in the diets of WL layers is adequate for optimum production performance during 28 to 44 weeks of age, however, WL layers require 0.27% NPP (324 mg /b/d) in the diet for optimum production with better bone mineralization.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10855-10860
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• 2015

Background: The study aimed to investigate the analgesic effect of a combination of intravenous flurbiprofen axetil and opioids, and evaluate the relationship between refractory pain relief and plasma ${\beta}$-endorphin levels in cancer patients. Materials and Methods: A total of 120 cancer patients was randomly divided into two groups, 60 patients took orally morphine sulfate sustained-release tablets in group A, and another 60 patients receiving the combination treatment of intravenous flurbiprofen axetil and opioid drugs in group B. After 7 days, pain relief, quality of life improvement and side effects were evaluated. Furthermore, plasma ${\beta}$-endorphin levels were measured by radioimmunoassay. Results: With the combination treatment of intravenous intravenous flurbiprofen axetil and opioids, the total effective rate of pain relief rose to 91.4%, as compared to 82.1% when morphine sulfate sustained-release tablet was used alone. Compared with that of group A, the analgesic effect increased in group B (p=0.031). Moreover, satisfactory pain relief was associated with a significant increase in plasma ${\beta}$-endorphin levels. After the treatment, plasma ${\beta}$-endorphin level in group B was $62.4{\pm}13.5pg/ml$, which was higher than that in group A ($45.8{\pm}11.2pg/ml$) (p<0.05). Conclusions: Our results suggest the combination of intravenous flurbiprofen axetil and opioids can enhance the analgesic effect of opioid drugs by increasing plasma ${\beta}$-endorphin levels, which would offer a selected and reliable strategy for refractory cancer pain treatment.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.5275-5279
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• 2013

Background: The XRCC1 (X-ray repair cross complimenting group-I) gene in BER (base excision repair) pathway is essential for DNA repair process. Polymorphisms in this gene are associated with variations in the repair efficiency which might predispose individuals to development of various cancers. Two variants of XRCC1gene (at codon 399), Gln/Gln and Arg/Gln, have been shown to be related to lowered DNA repair capacity and increased genomic instability in multiple studies. Hence our investigation focused on genotyping these variants to correlate with other multiple risk factors in lung cancer (NSCLC) patients since we hypothesized that these variants of the XRCC1 gene might influence disease susceptibility. Materials and Methods: We examined the frequency of the polymorphism in one hundred cases and an almost equal number of controls after recording their demographics with a structured questionnaire. Genomic DNA from blood samples was extracted for PCR studies, followed by RFLP to determine the variants. The significance of the data was statistically analyzed. Results: The three genotypes in cases and controls were Arg/Arg (40% and 54.45%); Gln/Gln (19% and 9.90%), and Arg/Gln (41.0% and 35.64%) respectively. Among these 3 genotypes, we found Gln/Gln and Arg/Gln to show association with lung cancer. Correlating these genotypes with several parameters, we also found that these two variants were associated with risk in males (p<0.05) and with smoking habits (p<0.05). In females Arg/Gln genotype showed association with stage of the disease (p=0.04). This is the first report in South Indian scenario where Arg399Gln genotypes were found to be associated with stage of the disease in females. Conclusions: It is concluded that XRCC1 genotypes Gln/Gln and Arg/Gln may influence cancer susceptibility in patients with smoking habits and these functional SNPs in XRCC1 gene may act as attractive candidate biomarkers in lung cancer for diagnosis and prognosis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.1971-1982
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• 2017

Piliated Lactobacillus rhamnosus (pLR) strains possess higher adherent capacity than non-piliated strains. The objective of this study was to isolate and characterize probiotic pLR strains in human fecal samples. To this end, mouse polyclonal antiserum (anti-SpaA) against the recombinant pilus protein (SpaA) of L. rhamnosus strain GG (LGG) was prepared and tested for its reactivity and specificity. With the anti-SpaA, a method combining the de Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe (MRS) agar plating separation and colony immunoblotting (CIB) was developed to isolate pLR from 124 human fecal samples. The genetic and phenotypic characteristics of the resultant pLR isolates were compared by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting, and examination of adhesion to Caco-2 cells, hydrophobicity, autoaggregation, and in vitro gastrointestinal tolerance. Anti-SpaA specifically reacted with three pLR strains of 25 test strains, as assessed by western blotting, immunofluorescence flow cytometry, and immunoelectron microscopy (IEM) assays. The optimized MRS agar separation plus anti-SpaA-based CIB procedure could quantitatively detect $2.5{\times}10^3CFU/ml$ of pLR colonies spiked in $10^6CFU/ml$ of background bacteria. Eight pLR strains were identified in 124 human fecal samples, and were confirmed by 16S RNA gene sequencing and IEM identification. RAPD fingerprinting of the pLR strains revealed seven different patterns, of which only two isolates from infants showed the same RAPD profiles with LGG. Strain PLR06 was obtained with high adhesion and autoaggregation activities, hydrophobicity, and gastrointestinal tolerance. Anti-SpaA-based CIB is a rapid and inexpensive method for the preliminary screening of novel adherent L. rhamnosus strains for commercial purposes.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.231-244
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• 2020

Background: As the population is aging, chronic diseases and depression are becoming the main problems in a country's healthcare system. In this study, we aimed to explore the associations between chronic diseases and depression among the elderly in South Korea. Methods: We analyzed 9,975 (men, 4,147; women, 5,828) respondents obtained from the 2014 National Survey of Living Conditions and Welfare Needs of Korean Older Persons. Our dependent variable was either 1 or 0 according to whether a respondent had depression or not, where depression was defined when the Short Form of Geriatric Depression Scale score was 8 or more points. Variables of interest were 24 types of chronic diseases and covariates included various socio-demographic and health behavior characteristics. We performed Rao-Scott chi-square tests and hierarchal logistic regression analyses by gender, reflecting the characteristics of the survey. Results: A significant difference was found in the proportion of having depression between genders (men 18.9% vs. women 23.4%). According to fully adjusted, multivariable analyses, for elderly men, relative to those without any chronic disease, the odds ratio of depression was 1.56 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10-2.22) in the stroke patients group and 1.82 (95% CI, 1.01-3.25) in the osteoporosis patients group. For elderly women, the odds ratio was 1.96 (95% CI, 1.28-3.00) in the fracture/dislocation and aftereffects patients group and 1.30 (95% CI, 1.03-1.64) in the group of patients with other diseases. Conclusion: Even after being adjusted for diverse characteristics, some chronic diseases were significantly associated with depression in the elderly and the association differed between genders. Therefore, public health and medical interventions are needed to manage such chronic diseases together with curing depression symptoms.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.135-142
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• 2015

Floating offshore structures should be designed by considering the most extreme environmental loadings which may be encountered in their design life. The most severe loading on a wave-offshore wind hybrid power generation system is wave loads. The principal parameters of wave loads are wave length, wave height and wave direction. The wave loads have different effects on the structural behavior characteristic depending on the combination of wave parameters. Therefore, the process of investigation for critical loads based on the individual wave loading parameter is need. Namely, the equivalent design wave should be derived by finding the wave condition which generates the maximum stress in entire wave conditions. Through a series of analysis, an equivalent regular wave height can be obtained which generates the same amount of the hydrodynamic loads as calculated in the response analysis. The aim of this study is the determination of equivalent design wave regarding to characteristic global hydrodynamic responses for wave-offshore wind hybrid power generation system. It will be utilized in the global structural response analysis subjected to selected design waves and this study also includes an application of global structural analysis.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.911-920
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• 2006

Phenolic antioxidant butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) is a commonly used food preservative with broad biological activities, including protection against chemical-induced carcinogenesis, acute toxicity of chemicals, modulation of macromolecule synthesis and immune response, induction of phase II detoxifying enzymes, as well as its undesirable potential tumor-promoting activities. Understanding the molecular basis underlying these diverse biological actions of BHA is thus of great importance. Here we studied the pharmacokinetics, activation of signaling kinases and induction of phase II/III drug metabolizing enzymes/transporter gene expression by BHA in the mice. The peak plasma concentration of BHA achieved in our current study after oral administration of 200 mg/kg BHA was around $10\;{\mu}M$. This in vivo concentration might offer some insights for the many in vitro cell culture studies on signal transduction and induction of phase II genes using similar concentrations. The oral bioavailability (F) of BHA was about 43% in the mice. In the mouse liver, BHA induced the expression of phase II genes including NQO-1, HO-1, ${\gamma}-GCS$, GST-pi and UGT 1A6, as well as some of the phase III transporter genes, such as MRP1 and Slco1b2. In addition, BHA activated distinct mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK), as well as p38, suggesting that the MAPK pathways may play an important role in early signaling events leading to the regulation of gene expression including phase II drug metabolizing and some phase III drug transporter genes. This is the first study to demonstrate the in vivo pharmacokinetics of BHA, the in vivo activation of MAPK signaling proteins, as well as the in vivo induction of Phase II/III drug metabolizing enzymes/transporters in the mouse livers.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.381-394
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• 2003

While constructing multistorey buildings with reinforced concrete framed structures it is a common practice to provide parking space for vehicles at the ground floor level. This floor will generally consist of open frames without any infilled walls and is called an open-storey. From a post disaster damage survey carried out, it was noticed that during the January 26, 2001 Bhuj (Gujarat, India) earthquake, a large number of reinforced concrete framed buildings with open-storey at ground floor level, suffered extensive damage and in some cases catastrophic collapse. This has brought into sharp focus the need to carry out systematic studies on the seismic vulnerability of such buildings. Determination of vulnerability requires realistic structural response estimations taking into account the stochasticity in the loading and the system parameters. The stochastic finite element method can be effectively used to model the random fields while carrying out such studies. This paper presents the details of stochastic finite element analysis of a five-storey three-bay reinforced concrete framed structure with open-storey subjected to standard seismic excitation. In the present study, only the stochasticity in the system parameters is considered. The stochastic finite element method used for carrying out the analysis is based on perturbation technique. Each random field representing the stochastic geometry/material property is discretised into correlated random variables using spatial averaging technique. The uncertainties in geometry and material properties are modelled using the first two moments of the corresponding parameters. In evaluating the stochastic response, the cross-sectional area and Young' modulus are considered as independent random fields. To study the influence of correlation length of random fields, different correlation lengths are considered for random field discretisation. The spatial expectations and covariances for displacement response at any time instant are obtained as the output. The effect of open-storey is modelled by suitably considering the stiffness of infilled walls in the upper storey using cross bracing. In order to account for changes in soil conditions during strong motion earthquakes, both fixed and hinged supports are considered. The results of the stochastic finite element based seismic analysis of reinforced concrete framed structures reported in this paper demonstrate the importance of considering the effect of open-storey with appropriate support conditions to estimate the realistic response of buildings subjected to earthquakes.